CLARENDON, Jamaica — A goal from Omarion O’Brian in the last seven minutes of Saturday’s daCosta Cup final was the sign needed that prophecy would be fulfilled for Garvey Maceo High School, who levelled the score at 1-1 to pull a strong comeback against first-time finalists McGrath High and secure their third title.

Senior personnel at the Clarendon-based school highlighted on Monday that, based on revelation, Garvey Maceo was destined to win. They defeated McGrath High 5-3 on penalties.

“Now, there is magic in number seven … It’s God’s favourite number… So when they held up seven in the stadium and said we only had seven minutes, it was over, because after seven is 11, and who wears number 11? Omarion O’Brian,” said Principal Erica Ewbanks to loud cheers.

Business teacher Jihan Morgan confirmed that despite the period of losses during the season, Garvey Maceo was God’s choice to take home this year’s championship trophy for the ‘Cubanz’.

“God proved himself as a man that is not slack concerning his promises, so he had said at the beginning that the victory would have been for the Cubanz,” she shared in a special celebration service that caused end-of-term exams to be pushed back.

The win is particularly impactful for outgoing captain, 19-year-old Christopher Mundle.

“It’s a great feeling to win the cup a second time, especially in my last year. I was a bit worried [when we hadn’t scored during the regular time] but I know we could still do it because we did it already against this team, because I scored in the last minute of the game when we drew two-all so I knew we could do it again,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

The coaching staff was overwhelmed with emotions, especially as both the head coach and assistant coach are past students of Garvey Maceo and were sharing their first title.

“This victory means a lot; a lot in terms of this has to do with just the Almighty. We always keep praying, always keep worshipping just to give him thanks, because we got a promise and a revelation from the start of the season that we were going to become champions — but it was like a roller coaster ride. But, we just emphasised on the players just to be calm, just to stay focused. We try our best to keep them together. As a team, we try to encourage them, we do different bonding sessions to keep them together,” said Head Coach Lester Hibbert who is on his second year in his role.

“It’s a very, it’s a different feeling. Being in the atmosphere is a different feeling; I can’t even explain the feeling but I just call it joy — it’s a very joyous feeling. So, I’m very grateful and I’m very glad for this victory. Thank God, He have made us win. I’m very glad,” expressed the soft-spoken assistant coach, Michael Thompson, who has been with the team for a year.

As the team seeks to upset many-time Manning Cup champions Kingston College this Saturday for the Oliver Shield, Thompson said the preparation continues.

“We are very patient. So now we’re going to take time to do a little bit more recovery and just, day by day, we just focus on what the preparation would be like to engage in that match. But Saturday, you will see a champion [perforamnce] from Garvey Maceo High School,” he said confidently.

Technical Director Merron Gordon said the team is hungry for the Oliver Shield.

“We will continue to build, continue to grow this… the Oliver Shield is special to us because we have never won it before,” he said.

The coaches and technical director are grateful for the support received from the school’s administrators, past students’ association and other supporters.

“The school sacrificed to win a trophy; [it] takes millions. And to fork out millions outside of the school money to focus on sports, it’s not an easy feat,” he stated.